In a six-page letter to ATF Deputy Director Thomas Brandon, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union say the decision to block the book proposed by Special Agent John Dodson violates his First Amendment rights. The ACLU described Dodson as a whistleblower.

According to the letter, the ATF denied Dodson’s request to try to publish a book about the failed sting operation because it would have “a negative impact on morale in the Phoenix (Field Division) and would have a detrimental” impact on ATF relationships with the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.